Durham church musician receives accolade from the Archbishop of Canterbury

Anne Harrison with the Archbishop of Canterbury Credit: Durham Diocese

Durham City based Anne Harrison, a Church musician and academic, has become the recipient of The Thomas Cranmer Award for Worship in recognition of her 'sustained and outstanding contribution to music in worship'.

Anne received Her Lambeth Award from the Most Reverend Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury earlier this month in a ceremony at Lambeth Palace in London.

Receiving her award amongst only five others in the category in 2017 and only the second time the awards have been given, Anne said:

Anne Harrison receives an accolade from the Archbishop of Canterbury Credit: Durham Diocese

Anne is a regular worshipper at St Nicholas Church in Durham market place and at Durham Cathedral; as well as having been active on the Durham Diocesan liturgical committee and as a tutor at St John’s College with Cranmer Hall.

The citation for her Lambeth award reads:

Having studied music at Oxford University, Anne Harrison taught music in London before moving to the Cambridgeshire Fens, and then to Durham where, in the mid-1990s, she became Music Co-ordinator at St John’s College with Cranmer Hall. This included time with ordinands, notably teaching a weekly ‘Preparation for Worship’ session with the liturgist, the late Michael Vasey. She was co-ordinating editor of the Royal School of Church Music’s quarterly Sunday by Sunday for ten years until 2012, during which period she received an Honorary ARSCM and completed an MA in Music and Liturgy at Leeds University.

Anne has been active in both the local RSCM (Royal School of Church Music) and the Diocesan Liturgical Committee – leading Taizé services in Durham Cathedral and helping to shape courses and conferences bringing together music and liturgy. Her two Grove Monographs – Sing it Again: The Place of Short Songs in Worship (W176) and Recovering The Lord’s Song: Getting Sung Scripture Back into Worship (W198) highlight two of her key interests: repeated short songs in worship (especially from the Taizé and Iona Communities), and sung Scripture, such as her Benedictus setting, published in Common Worship Daily Prayer.

Anne chaired the Editorial Group for Sing Praise (2010) and was a member of the editorial team for Ancient and Modern (2013), both sub-titled Hymns and Songs for Refreshing Worship. She is a member of the Committee of the Hymn Society of Great Britain and Ireland and of the Group for the Renewal of Worship, and a trustee of the Song and Hymn Writers Foundation. She writes on music, hymnody and song for Praxis News of Worship. Her contribution has been outstanding.

Anne Harrison receives an accolade in London for her services Credit: Durham Diocese